My Bet
by Samu
Summary: It all started with a bet. JDCox. Warnings: Some sexual situations.


Disclaimer: I do not own Scrubs.

Author's Notes: This came from a challenge on lj from scrubsprompts. The challenge part is right in the beginning, about the bet. I have a sequel in the works, but it's just not up to par yet. Enjoy!

* * *

"Dr. Cox? I've been meaning to talk to you."

Dr. Cox whirled around at the voice. "Yeah, Gandhi? What is it?"

Turk paused. How to continue? "Look, I'm sure you've noticed that JD likes you... a lot."

Dr. Cox snorted. "For reasons beyond me. I guess his old man did a bad job, huh?"

Turk looked startled. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Cox now mimicked Turk's confusion, saying, "That would be why he's looking for a father figure, wouldn't it?"

Turk tried and failed to hold back a snicker. "Dude, he's not looking for a father figure. He's got a crush on you."

"Are you insane, Gandhi?"

"You don't believe me? Let's bet on it," Turk responded. "Flirt with him. Tempt him. If he doesn't respond within a week, you win. But if he does, you're mine."

"Fine," Perry all but spat. "I'll show you how ridiculous you are." Turk smiled smugly back at him, turning to leave, but he was stopped one more time. "What are we wagering?"

"Money is the language of love, right? Fifty dollars if I win. And you have to nicely give me a cupcake at lunch every day for a week." Perry raised an eyebrow at him, Turk responding with a shrug. "Alright, I need some extra cash since Carla's birthday is coming up. I love cupcakes, _and_ I know that forcing you to give them up is a deeper cut than digging out of your pockets for cash."

"And if I win, I expect you to walk up and down the halls for an hour every day for a week, singing my praises." He watched Turk's eyebrow raise, and mimicked the earlier shrug. "I love ego boosts."

"Deal." Turk reached for Perry's outstretched hand, almost falling over when it was pulled back.

"Woof." Perry grinned at him. "Now get out of my way. Sami may finally find out who's baby she's carrying." The surgeon stared at him, but just shook his head and left the break room.

Perry held up his grin until he was sure Turk wasn't coming back, then groaned and let his head fall back against the couch. "Dammit all to hell, Perry. The moronic things you get yourself in to."

* * *

Dr. Cox glanced over his clipboard, surveying JD out of the corner of his eye. Flirting can't be that hard right? It's not like his last date was... He frowned. When the hell was his last date? Jordan really must have got his testicles in the divorce agreement. 

Might as well jump right in, and look for opportunity. "Newbie, come!" He watched the younger doctor jump and run over to him, falling in step as they walked into a patient's room. JD looked at him expectantly, and he rolled his eyes. "Pick up the damn chart, Linda, and tell me what's wrong with him."

JD nodded, grabbing the chart and reading off, "John Ashbeck." He looked up, smiling winningly at the unconsciousness man. "Good name choice, by the way." Perry rolled his eyes, his mind still plotting other things. "He developed a skin rash, and is currently feeling headaches, fatigue, and muscle ache."

It was time. He moved to stand behind JD, lowering his head to look over his shoulder. Dr. Cox was only inches away, and the smell of coconuts from his hair product was overwhelming. JD stiffened slightly as he reached over, deliberately brushing his fingers against the other doctor's when he grabbed the chart. "Run some blood tests, and make sure to look closer at the rash. We're probably dealing with a case of Lyme disease." He glanced up, trying to figure out what was going on in the kid's head. There was a little bit of deer-in-headlights look, but something else was definitely underneath it. He frowned, denying that the black surgeon was right in any way, shape, or form.

When JD didn't answer, Dr. Cox whistled, startling him out of his stupor. "Right. I'm on it." He scurried out of the room, with perhaps what could've been a slight blush on his cheeks, hopefully from some stupid fantasy involving unicorns, knights, or some other stupid thing. Perry stared after him, frowning.

"I'd hit that." Perry whipped around, eyes opening wider as Mr. Ashbeck raised his eyebrows suggestively. He growled, storming out of the door to the nurses station.

"I know what you're doing," Carla said, a note of unhappiness punctuating the words.

"Carla, you have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Hell, I barely know what I'm doing." He leveled a glare at her. "You better not mention this to anyone, under threat of your death."

She snorted, crossing her arms. "Puh-lease. You couldn't kill me even if you wanted to. I'd floor you so fast, you'd still be wondering—"

"Go and admit yourself to the no-one-cares ward." Perry leaned in closer. "You're little black surgeon is going to be joining my cult soon enough." She still clearly wasn't impressed. "You just wait and see."

"You know Bambi is the one who's going to get hurt in this," Carla said, walking away from him.

"Sanja in no way possible has any feelings for me!" he shouted after her, causing heads to turn. "What are you looking at?" Snarling and in a foul mood, he turned to the nearest intern. "You have a total of eight seconds to find me that donut with chocolate glaze that I left in the break room. You don't want to know what happens if you don't get here in time." The intern whimpered and ran off, bringing a grin to his face as he leaned against the counter and shouted the seconds down the hall.

* * *

Perry groaned, leaning his head against the break room couch. When he saw his dark-haired protege enter the room with a load of paperwork, pause when he noticed him in here, and turn to leave leave, he let out a whistle, motioning JD to sit by the table and work on his mountain of paperwork. JD laughed nervously, sitting down and spreading out some paper. 

Leveling a glare at the young doctor, Perry couldn't help but feel frustrated as he thought back on the last few days. Only one day was left to prove once and for all there was no way in hell that Newbie felt any love other than the fatherly type from him. At the moment, it seemed impossible.

During the first day, he tried all the casual touches, even managing to work himself up into patting JD on the head and earning a handful of goop. The blushes were easily ignored for various reason, but as he noticed JD staring at him more and more, that look in his eyes was getting harder to disregard.

On the second day, he had tried the gift idea. He willingly parted with his muffin at lunch, albeit he threw it at JD from across the cafeteria and managed to make it connect with his head. Remembering that JD liked candy jewelry, Perry tossed a candy bracelet at him in the break room, giving the excuse that some moron gave it to him for Jack, but since Jack wasn't allowed to have hard candy yet, he give it to Newbie, who was just at the right age to start trying it out. Of course, he had to deal with the kid flashing happy looks his way and nibbling at that bracelet the rest of the day.

JD was off on the third day, and he considered taking the kid out for a drink, but decided it wasn't worth the headache. So, he devoted this day to planning, and buying the kid a rose that was delivered to his apartment. With the thorns on, of course, bringing him a small amount of pleasure when he saw the bandaged fingers the next day.

Perry tried the whole gaze teasingly or lustfully thing on the fourth day, getting nothing but a nervous, jittery response anytime JD noticed. He supposed the look may have been nothing more than a glare, but it was hard to do anything else. After giving this up, he tried winking, which brought out the oh-my-god-he's-going-to-kill-me-painfully-and-slowly look before he ran away. He couldn't find JD the rest of that day.

He wore tight T-shirts during the fifth day. He did catch Newbie staring at him with that weird look on his face a couple times, but more disturbingly, he caught at least three interns, a nurse, another attending, the Todd, and the lunch lady also staring. Hell, even Kelso complimented him, giving him some kind of advice from his son before smiling that smile that makes Perry want to ram his head into walls.

Today he had worked on eating a Popsicle sexily, but JD never looked over at him. In fact, the kid had been avoiding him like the plague. With Gandhi giving him those smug give-me-your-cupcakes smiles anytime they were within thirty feet of each other, he was beginning to feel desperate.

Perry realized that by now, he had been staring at JD for a full ten minutes. The younger doctor glanced nervously back at him, trying to concentrate on his work and probably wondering if he was deciding how to cook him for later. Pretty soon, Perry was just going to give up on the subtle, drag the kid into a closet, and hope he would prove Turk wrong.

"Newbie, if you're just going to take up breathing space, then you might as well come over here and work on my shoulders." JD looked at him questioningly, unsure of what to do. "I mean now Francine."

Dr. Cox rolled his head back up when he was sure he would get that back massage he so needed. Hands gingerly wrapped around his shoulders, only lightly applying pressure at first. "I'm not going to break, so prove to me you have some muscle under those scrubs." The pressure increased, causing him to close his eyes as JD began hitting the knots.

When he looked back on it, he supposed that it hadn't really been that bad. If Newbie really did like him, it would change the dynamics of their relationship in a way that Perry wasn't sure he was comfortable with yet. Sure, the kid annoyed him in the way that Jordan annoyed him before their relationship went shitty. That doesn't mean that—

Ooo. He held back a groan as JD moved up his neck and onto his scalp. Damn, he would have to have the kid do this more often. It's better than any headache medicine he's tried. His fingers moved slowly through Perry's soft curls, drawing out a sigh and causing him to relax even further.

It was because he was so relaxed, he'd tell himself later, that Perry didn't notice when one hand moved out of his hair and a mouth closed on his ear, suckling it gently. He'd keep telling himself later that he didn't notice as the mouth moved down, kissing his neck with a bit more fervor. Maybe he was still dazed when he turned his face toward that mouth and captured it.

Then Perry snapped out of it. He swore, getting off the couch and storming out of the break room, leaving a rather confused JD behind.

* * *

Perry was sitting on the couch, finishing his third glass of scotch when he heard the knock. He knew it was JD, and had no urge to get up and answer it. He was still trying his best to ignore that image which was plaguing his mind and the sensation that refused to leave his lips. The knocking paused, throwing the apartment back into silence. He hoped for a second the kid left, but it was dashed away when the door knob was tried and opened. Cursing himself for not locking it, he poured another glass of scotch, deciding he would need a lot to deal with the kid right now. 

JD stood in front of him, grabbing his glass away. Perry growled, but the other doctor already set it down on the table, far enough that he couldn't easily reach it. He looked away when JD opened his mouth to speak, deciding that saying nothing would confirm nothing. Especially not that he wanted the kid straddling him right now.

He paused, wondering when his fantasies started to feel so real, but realized JD really was straddling him, pulling his face toward his and locking their lips together. Maybe it was because he was still stunned, but Perry went with it, growling into JD's mouth when a tongue entered his. He pushed it out and asserted himself, trying to take over.

Moaning as he felt fingers curl around his hair and start stroking, he knew that control was going to be beyond him. His dick was already getting hard as JD moved against it, planting kisses down his neck until he reached his shirt. He heard a growl rumble against his throat and felt hands grabbing his shirt, pulling it off. JD bit at his nipples, making Perry's head roll back and his breath come out harder.

It was when he felt the button of his pants pop and his zipper being undone Perry finally managed to regain enough sense of the situation. He grabbed JD's hand, effectively stopping him and earning a slight whine.

"You don't want to do this," Perry warned, grabbing JD's other hand as it tried moving stealthily toward his hair.

JD paused in his movements, staring at him, and burst out laughing. Perry growled, but relaxed his hold on the younger doctor's wrists when he tugged at them to wipe his eyes. The kid made no move to get off of him, and instead just shifted slightly against his dick. "I'm pretty sure I know what both of us want."

Ducking JD's mouth as it tried to continue it's work on his chest, Perry pushed him off, standing up so he could get away. He scrubbed his face, all of a sudden tired. "No. No, you don't."

"The accidental touches? The muffin? The candy bracelet? The somewhat failed attempt with the Popsicle? And that shirt was hott, by the way." JD's eyes drifted over Perry's half naked form, making him turn away and zip his pants back up. "You weren't exactly subtle."

"Just to let you know, Pamela, I wasn't trying to be." Perry shook his head, starting to pace. "You aren't suppose to be interested!"

JD snorted, looking at him incredulously. "This is coming from Mr. Ego?"

"Oh-me-oh-my, Newbie. Aren't you just showing a whole new ballsy side!" He just needed to hit something. He glanced at JD, but he knew Carla would kill him if he bruised. Settling on the wall, he crushed his fist against it, hissing in pain. "You want to know what this really was all about?" Perry turned back around, stalking up to JD. "Your black surgeon boyfriend wanted to prove a point. _He_ came to _me_ saying these ridiculous things about _you_. Of course, being that man I am, I couldn't turn down the bet, and here we stand." He gestured wildly, feeling on edge and ready to hit the bottle again.

Perry watched emotions play across JD's face, waiting for his response. He finally just looked up, his voice soft. "You did this because of a bet?"

"Shit, Newbie, yeah I did. I wasn't quite expecting it to turn out like this."

He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but sometime after JD had gotten up, Perry had landed on his ass, his tail bone smarting from hitting the coffee table. JD just glared at him, his eyes shining in the darkness, and walked out the door.

Groaning, Perry laid on the floor, his back hurting from the fall and something else ripping at his chest. Not for the first time this week he wondered what the hell he got himself into.

* * *

Turk was waiting for him, leaning up against the wall outside of the hospital. Dr. Cox snarled at him, a combination of frustration at the surgeon, JD, himself, and his lack of sleep. Holding out a fifty dollar bill, he started to walk into the hospital until Gandhi grabbed his arm. He tugged it away, giving him the best death glare he could manage. 

"When I started this bet, I had hoped you would come to your senses," Turk said, pocketing the money, but still not looking happy. "I was pretty sure you'd realize what you wanted, and it would help JD in the end. Now you've just confirmed everything I already knew about you: you're a self-absorbed ass who can't see what's right in front of him."

Perry rounded on him, laughing. "You consider this helping Helena? You made a buck off of whether or not I could seduce her. Whoo boy, maybe next time I need gas money we should see whether or not you can get Barbie in the sack without Carla finding out." He gave Turk a shit-eating grin before growling at him. "Leave me alone, Gandhi. At least I don't whore out my best friends."

He turned away, stalking into the hospital with Turk calling after him, "At least I have some!"

It wasn't long until he was stopped again, this time by Carla and Elliot, who was standing behind the Latina nurse. "What do you two want?"

"I told you so," Carla said, cocking her hips. "I told you Bambi would be the one who got hurt. And was I right?"

"Heck yeah!" Elliot chirped, shrinking back behind Carla when Perry glared at her.

"Amazing input there, Barbie. Way to stick up for a friend." He clapped, ignoring Carla's angry look. "Your wifey outside already tried this, and oh, by the way, have you tried dealing with him yet? Or asked him how he's going to buy your present this year?"

Carla narrowed her eyes.. "Oh, he knows he's in the dog house. Don't think you can shift the blame."

"Reese is a big girl now, I'm sure she can stand on her own two feet and even probably wear big girl underwear. If she's got a problem, then tell her to bring it to me." He pushed past them, growling at anyone who decided to look his way.

* * *

Somehow, Perry always ended up in the break room. The bet was in the break room, the massage was in the break room. He groaned, annoyed at his sore back and thinking about how good it'd be to get another massage. Shifting his gaze back to the TV, he did anything but actually watch it. 

JD had been avoiding him all day, no surprise there, so when it was time for the cupcake hand off, Perry didn't have to see him. He grinned since Turk's satisfaction had been ruined by the souring of their bet, but it was harder than hell to do anything in this hospital when everyone was working against you. Carla had the nurses ignoring him, but of course it didn't end there. The kid seemed to have friends everywhere, so even his scare tactics didn't hold as much weight today. How the news got out and around so fast, it would always be a mystery to him.

Contrary to the patient load he was expecting, he actually had only a few cases today, leaving him up to his own devices. He was pretty sure Carla planned this so he would have to think or maybe even find JD and talk to him. Perry snorted when he thought about trying that.

He didn't know what the hell he felt for the kid. Somewhere deep in his emotional shell, Perry supposed that he was proud of JD for being a successful doctor. Past that, it got fuzzy. Digging that deep would dredge up other shit that was meant to be locked away. The session they had last night kept on popping into his head, making his stomach roll. He wasn't going to willing touch that with a ten-foot pole.

Perry sighed as he felt fingers work their way into his hair, but pulled away instantly, knowing who it had to be. "You were doing a good job of avoiding me. Why stop?"

The couch dipped next to him and JD stared at the TV, not willing to look at the older doctor's face. "Why did you agree to the bet?"

"Why were you just massaging my head if you're still mad?"

"Maybe so you wouldn't run away from your problems." Perry snorted. "So why did you do the bet?"

"To prove a point? To have my name sung down the halls for a week? What answer hits your fancy better, Shelia?"

JD finally looked at him, his eyes unreadable. "Call me JD."

"Whoa there Newbie, I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of relationship."

Growling in frustration, JD got off the couch and stood in front of him. "See? That's what's wrong. If you wanted to mess up whatever we had before this stupid bet, then you can't expect everything to be okay."

"Maybe Gandhi shouldn't have brought this to me in the first place if you wanted us to go along our merry little oblivious way forever."

"Don't drag Turk into this. We're talking about you."

"So you're okay with your friend betting on you for money and cupcakes? I know those chocolate ones from the store are ever so good—"

"Just shut up and listen," JD cut him off. "This isn't about the money or the cupcakes that I'm sure my best friend feels pretty damn guilty for right now. This is about you. How you can't seem to understand just what's going on. Since I met you I felt something. Maybe hero worship or maybe it started out as wanting a father-figure. But you know what? At some point it turned into a physical attraction. And I know from last night that in some way you feel it too."

Perry opened his mouth, but closed it again at JD's look. "You think that teasing me and bringing my hopes up is a game? Well, maybe you're more like the bastard everyone thinks you are. Who the hell knows? You don't let anyone ever really see what's going on!" JD kicked the couch, wincing a little. "So maybe you're afraid of commitment. Well guess what, so am I! I haven't been able to keep a girlfriend for more than a year, ever. Maybe that makes me less of a man, but who the hell cares! I don't know if anything would work out between us ever or even if you're remotely interested past sex, but you know what? I find it hard to care about it right now. Whatever happens in the future can't happen until we figure out what's going on today."

Perry watched him walk away, breathing heavily. He wasn't sure if he should open his mouth, insult the kid for being so girly, and risk losing his head, or if he should just sit here and play it safe. It's hard to get away from your roots. "Well, Barbara, I've re-he-heally enjoyed this little heart to heart with you, but I am afraid to tell you that," he leaned in to whisper, "this isn't helping your manly image out at all."

JD sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say." He walked out, leaving Dr. Cox with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Damn it, Perry," he muttered. "You're suck a jackass."

* * *

So here's the great Perry Cox, standing outside JD's apartment and staring at the door. Time wasn't an issue since he knew both Carla and Gandhi were pulling double shifts and he had the night off. The main unknown factor was JD, whether he was currently in the apartment or off sipping appletinis. Actually knocking and finding out didn't seem to be an option either. He figured maybe if he stared at the door long enough, the grain in the wood would spell out some word on how to deal with this mess. 

Why the wood grain would tell him anything, he wasn't sure. It was probably the scotch talking to him now, which reminded him to take a sip from the bottle in his hand. Nothing came out, causing him to stare angrily at it until it would release it's magic liquid to him. Perry shrugged when the bottle decided to stay silent, dropping it to the ground. It rolled slightly, coming to a stop before he realized he was sitting on the ground watching it.

To say the last couple of days had been anything but worse than the normal hell would be an understatement. Relations at the hospital fell to a new low, but his patient load was now finding a new all time high. His lack of sleep wasn't improving his mood, which was earning him a whole new reputation.

Perry growled, glaring at the door and hoping it was in the direction of the kid. His interaction with JD has been lukewarm at best, coldly professional at worst. They couldn't exactly ignore each other when they were forced to work together, but that didn't mean JD wasn't hell bent on treating him like a stranger. This grated on his nerves more than he could have ever expected. And now the daily cupcake drop was getting worse since JD had rejoined his friends. He could care less about the three glares he got from Carla, Gandhi, and Barbie, but Newbie's look was something else.

Banging his head against the wall, he realized too late it was a door and someone had opened it. Perry laid on the ground staring up at this woman who had to be ancient, her face turning beat red. He frowned, briefly wondering if she had a fever, until he realized to his horror that he could stare up her nightgown all too well. With a well placed kick to the head, he was laying outside in the hallway again.

So, he stared at the wood grain harder, wondering if it would be different from this new sideways view. It did finally start to shift, causing Perry to groan when it revealed that dark-haired doctor he wanted to avoid. This made him wonder once again why he was sitting outside of that same doctor's door at two in the morning.

Wood-grain JD moved, opening his mouth and saying something or another, but the words seemed rather jumbled and fuzzy to Perry's ears. He rolled closer to try to decipher these words, but became worried when wood-grain JD moved out of the door and over him. He mumbled something to the effect of, "Holy shit, doors are attacking me," but it didn't seem to repel the wood-grain doctor, so he decided it must be alright. His wrist was grabbed and he faintly felt himself helped up and into the apartment, and laid back down on something that was much softer than the hallway floor.

Perry was alone again, and realized he felt unbearably warm. Somehow he managed to stretch his shirt over his head and off one arm before rolling off the bed with a muffled groan. Now his arm and head were stuck in the shirt, but at least the ground was a lot cooler. He sighed, faintly recognizing a coconut scent wafting to his nose.

He felt the footsteps near him, causing him to roll over and wonder if the door was going to attack him again. His shirt was briefly jumbled with until it was pulled off with a grunt, clearing his vision in order to see the green-blue eyes staring at him.

Somehow, Perry connected them to his protege, which triggered his memory to show him what he had come here to do. Fumbling at his pocket, he wondered where he put it until he tried the other one. He grabbed it, extending his hand to the best of his ability and coming in contact with something warm. A hand grabbed his, and he felt himself slip in unconsciousness.

* * *

Groaning, Perry cracked his eyes opened, instantly assaulted by harsh light. His head throbbed, causing him to roll over and bury his face into the pillow. He paused when he inhaled coconut, wondering what the hell had gotten on his pillow. 

"Shit," he muttered, hearing clanking sounds outside of the room. "Damn it. Damn it all to whatever hell Kelso runs and Jordan frequents." Perry rolled on his back again, pushing himself up into a sitting position, and jamming the heels of his hands into his eyes. He realized by then he wasn't wearing a shirt and smelled rather horrible, but at least the pants were still on.

Out in what he assumed was the kitchen, he heard JD's voice yelling out the waffle song. Perry fell back onto the bed, covering his ears from the shrill noise, until he saw a cheery face pop into the room. He was pretty sure that anyone this happy in the morning should roast, only after being skinned alive and forced to watch whatever television show Jack enjoyed the most.

"Afternoon, sunshine." JD grinned at him. Perry tried to glare, but he had a feeling it was a grimace more than anything else. "Waffle?" He tried to keep the glare up as the aforementioned waffle came into view, but JD didn't give him time to answer, and just threw it and hit him in the face. The younger doctor smiled widely at him again, passively-aggressively fighting his battle. "Oh, and Mrs. Krause from across the hall says that, after some reconsidering, she wouldn't mind taking you out for a night on the town. She has such sass!"

Perry pulled the sticky food off, his head still screaming at him and his back deciding to join right in. He growled, but rolled off the bed anyway, making his way to a chair in the kitchen. JD was waltzing around still singing, working on pouring some coffee before he sat down across from him.

"Coffee?" JD pushed a cup toward him, but Perry made no move to grab it. There was no telling what could be mixed in with the black substance, namely arsenic. JD rolled his eyes when he saw his mentor scrutinizing the coffee. "Do you think Carla would let us keep anything potentially harmful here? She knows all of our hiding spots too well."

Finally, Perry just shrugged and downed the mug, ignoring the burning sensation as it slid down his throat. "Not the worst sludge I've ever had."

"Thanks," JD said before digging into his pancakes. His stomach rolled as he watched the kid down them and he had to look away by the third one. "So what brought you drunk to my door at two in the morning?" Perry's gaze moved back to JD. "Is it to insult me a bit further? Maybe another bet? I'm sure the Janitor would love to get in on it. He—"

"Newbie—"

"JD," he cut the older doctor off.

"Fine. _JD_." Perry rolled his eyes, too tired for this. "This bet was stupid." JD snorted, causing him to growl. "I know that, you know that, Gandhi knows that. I'm a stupid ass for taking it on."

"Everyone knows that," JD agreed.

Perry growled at him again, leaning over the table. "Listen, if you want me to say anything, you better shut the hell up right now." He sat back again, watching the kid set down his fork and do the same. He let his gaze wander for a moment, his mind still a bit addled from the hangover. "I don't know why I took it on. It sounded ridiculous to me. Well, we both know how that turned out now. A damn, stupid mistake."

"Is that how you feel about it?" JD asked quietly.

"I don't know how I feel about it!" He pushed away from the table, the chair tipping over. "You want to know what's wrong with you? You expect me to be superhuman. Even though I second guess it sometimes, I am a mortal. A mortal whose life is in the shitter and job's going with it every day that we play this game. The only thing good for me is that damn hellhole hospital, and now you've taken that away from me. You think I'm egotistical? Well what about you." He rested his hands on the table, leaning in as close he could to JD. "Somewhere in there, you like this little change that happened."

JD glared up at him, his face turning red, before he stood up as well. "So now you think that I enjoy you playing around with my emotions?"

"Why the hell not if I play with you at all."

Perry wasn't prepared for the scream that came out of JD, or the push that came along with it. His back spasmed in pain as he hit the floor, and he already knew there was no way he was getting up again. "So now Mr. Emotionless Pit thinks that I enjoy when he rags on me everyday?"

"Newbie—"

"I'm an accomplished doctor now, I think I'm a little past that!"

"JD—"

"Dammit, Perry, just because you can't feel doesn't mean that everyone else can't either! You know how much it hurt when you told me all this was a bet? After years of being under you, wondering what you felt, and figuring out that the time you starting showing some kind of interested was when you had some other motive underneath it?" Perry winced again in pain, both from his back and the words. "I'm still aching over it, and then you show up drunk at my door and start the yelling all over again."

"JD!"

"What the hell do you want?!" JD yelled down at him, his eyes starting to water.

"You threw my back out."

"Shit." He scrambled over to the fallen man, unsure of what to do.

"Just get some ice packs and a couple aspirin," Perry ground out, pushing him into action. At least this gave him some time alone from the kid, even if it was painful. JD drove him crazy in more than one way. He could even hear the worry in JD's footsteps as they ran around, gathering who knows what anymore. Perry just sighed, listening until they moved toward him again.

"Do you want to move to the couch?"

"Give me the aspirin," he demanded, grabbing and swallowing them without water.

"We don't really have any ice packs," JD said. "All I could find were these really old frozen peas and some Popsicles."

"Just roll me over, and set them on my lower back." JD complied, but it didn't make the trip any easier. His back protested the whole way, but finally began to quiet when the frozen food hit it. Perry sighed, closing his eyes.

"Sorry," JD murmured, making Perry growl and open his eyes again.

"It's not like I didn't probably deserve it."

JD laughed, sitting back. "You deserve to strain your back from my manly push?"

"More like your girly anger, Zoe." The kid quieted again and Perry rolled his eyes. "Contrary to popular knowledge, the names aren't an insult. Embrace it and enjoy it. I don't use it on anyone else."

"Oh." He paused, and then laid down next to Perry so he could be eye level. "Sorry if I'm being pushy."

Perry snorted. "Like you could push me into anything."

"You are a egotistical jerk."

"And you're a whiny girl."

"At least I have one fine body that can draw any gender in."

The older doctor rolled his eyes again, closing them when the headache started to increase. "JD, give it time."

"You aren't getting any younger." Perry snarled. "One push from me and your back gives up. I know I can beat you in a fight now." He tried a glare, but his forehead wasn't willing to give the effort. "I'd wait."

"I know." He heard a crunch, making him crack an eye back open. JD had rolled onto his back, happily chewing away at a candy necklace. Perry sighed, wondering if throttling him right now could be passed off as a insanity plea later on. JD glanced over at him, smiling. Somehow, that smile was going to become contagious, but Perry was damn sure he'd never let it hit him.

"Thanks for the necklace."

"Whatever."


End file.
